 Patrick
Emerson was born in The Liberties, South Dublin in 1890, the second
youngest of four sons named William, James and John (who would later
serve with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers during World War One). He lived
in Meath Street for the first 18 years of his life, and after a nominal
education in Dublin, went on to take employment as a butcher’s
porter. This trade does not seem to have been particularly appealing
to him and as a result decided to take the Kings Shilling and joined
the British Army.
On the 5th May 1908 he joined the army reserve, his army number being
Private1474. He would only serve for 192 days with the 6th Reserve
Cavalry Regiment
which at the time based in Marlborough barracks (this regiment later
went on to fight against Irish insurgents during the Easter Rising
in 1916).
During his time as part of the reserve he is noted as having
committed the odd misdemeanour which earned him a few days
punishment. In Dundalk
on 19th July 1908 he was reported by a Corporal Batsow for “…irregular
conduct in barracks at 10.25pm” and was awarded two days confined
to barracks as punishment by Major R.A. Smith. One month later on
29th August 1908 he was in trouble again, this time being reported
by Regimental
Sergeant Major Bell for “…disobedience of camp standing
orders”.
Major R.A. Smith would again give him two days confined to barracks
as punishment. More than likely this was for gambling as he and his
brothers
were notoruous gamblers. After the war they were renowned for gambling
away three butchers shops in card games with fellow Dubliners.
Despite these misdemeanours, life in the reserves spurred him on
to join the regulars within the ranks of the British Army and
on 13th
November
1908 he enlisted with the Corps of Lancers of the Line with his
chosen regiment being the 5th Royal Irish Lancers.
At the time, they were based at The Curragh
in County Kildare - a place they had been based at since 1902 after
returning
from
their successful participation in the Boer War. This seems a strange
time for a Roman Catholic Irishman to enlist with the British Army
for at this
time, Home Rule had been introduced in Ireland and Irish nationalism
was on the rise.
Patrick was 18 years and 6 months of age when he enlisted on that
November day which contradicts the date of birth stated on his
enlistment papers.
He was a small, compact fellow being five foot five inches in
height and weighing only 132lbs, slightly underweight but ideal
for the
cavalry. His
enlisting officer, a Captain L. J. Browley described him as "...having
a fresh complexion with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and having a scar running
down the left side of his nose". He was also described as being “an
intelligent looking fellow, very anxious to join the 5th Lancers".
He signed up for seven years with the colours and for five years
in the reserve or, if he completed his seven years service
overseas he would
only need to serve one year in the reserve. This was according
to the military
law at the time and was made clear to him when he signed up.
In all a term of service lasting seven years.
During his time with the 5th Royal
Irish Lancers, Private No.3733
Patrick Emerson (his army number presumably changed when
he joined the regulars)
is listed as remaining as serving as a groom and batman to
an officer. The officer is not listed on his records but
from reports
from
his family, the officer in question was Lord Moyne who was
part of the
Guinness family
famous for brewing stout at their Dublin brewery in James'
Street. Lord Moyne however never served with the 5th Royal
Irish Lancers
so this would
appear to be inaccaurate and the officer in question remains
a mystery.
On 4th April 1911, Patrick was admitted to military hospital
suffering from pneumonia and spent almost a month recovering
from this affliction.
He was not released from hospital however because on 1st
May 1911 he was diagnosed with having a problem with his
appendix.
He was
operated
on by
Captain W. D. Kelly who states in his report that “…abscess,
cut off from general peritoneal cavity by adhesions, appendix not removed,
was lying in front of thesis, slightly to the left of middle line healed
without complications after the methods of Fowler and Murphy”.
This was quite serious according to relations who claim
that he almost died
but Patrick appears to have been made from stern stuff
and was released on 20th June 1911, fit for service.
After seven years perfect service, he was discharged from
the army to the reserve, gaining kudos from his commanding
officer
(a Captain
V.M.
Vallance)
who described him as having a very good military character,
being honest, trustworthy and a very good groom. It is
also noted on
his discharge
papers that he was never guilty of “…drunkenness
on duty or ordinary drunkenness (!)".
On 14th January 1914 after serving for five years and
63 days, he was officially discharged to the reserve
as Private
No.
311786 where
he would
serve for
five years. His pay grade was Class III @ 3d (shillings)
and having earned a Good Conduct Badge and Sobriety
Certificate denoting his “…having
never been under the influence of liquor during the last three years of
his service” (signed by Lt. Colonel Arthur Parker – 5th
Royal Irish Lancers) was officially signed off by Capt
A.M MacDougall (5th
Royal Irish Lancers).
Storm clouds were looming however and before the end
of the year he would be back on active service with
the 5th
Royal
Irish Lancers.
At the outbreak
of the Great War the 5th Royal Irish Lancers were
mobilised as part of the British Expeditionary Force, belonging
to 3rd Cavalry
Brigade.
Patrick
was part of this force. According to his war record
he left Southampton on 12th November 1914 and disembarked
in Rouen
two days later.
This seems rather strange as Rouen is inland, its
nearest
ports being
Le Havre and
Dieppe. It is quite possible that he landed at one
of
these ports and travelled inland.
According to his records, he would spend the entire
duration of the war overseas in Belgium and France.
There are
no written records
of the exact
locations where he served but he would have seen
action in Solesmes, Mons (where they were 5th Royal
Irish
Lancers were
the last cavalry
regiment to leave the town), Le Cateau, retreat
from Mons, Marne , Aisne , Messines,
Ypres 1914 '15, Gheluvelt, St. Julien, Bellewaarde,
Arras 1917, ÉLOUGES.
Scarpe 1917, Cambrai 1917, St. Quentin and the
Pursuit to Mons in 1918 where they were the first
to enter the town, as they were last to leave
there in 1914.
Private Patrick Emerson served for four years and
96 days on active service in France and did not
suffer any wounds
which
is no mean
feat when one
considers the casualties sustained by the BEF
during the opening months of the war. He also had the
honour of re-entering
Mons
after their heroic
defence of the Belgian town in which many of
his comrades
would have perished. There were very few of the
original lancers
who defended
this town left
when they re-entered the town in November 1918.
Patrick was given two weeks leave on 26th August
1918, returning
to active
service
on the 8th
September
1918 and would have been one of the original
lancers to re-enter the town.
Remarkably he escaped injury during the hostilities,
his only entries on his medical records being
the odd day reporting
sick. He ended
the war
having earned three medals, The 1914 Star,
British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He finally arrived home on 13th February 1919 and remained
in the army reserve from 15th March, 1919 until 12th November 1919. He
was finally discharged from the army on 12th November 1920 having served
for over 11 years in the service of the King.
There is some confusion as to the circumstances surrounding
his discharge. Relations claim that he was kicked out
of the army for gambling with
some privates in their quarters. Having been a corporal this certainly
would not have been tolerated and would have been made known on his
discharge papers. However there is no mention of this
whatsoever on any of his
records which seems rather strange. Personally I believe he was discharged
by the army due to the 5th Royal Irish Lancers were disbanded in 1921.
Their ranks being dispersed to other regiments or being offered an
honourable discharge.
After his army service, Patrick lived in England for many
years in Preston, Lancashire where he ran a club. He
had three brothers, one
of whom, John,
served in the Royal Irish Rifles during World War One. He also had
two sons, Mick and Frank who were born in Ireland but spent most
of their
life in Rochdale, Nothern England. They went onto serve in the British
Army during their terms of National Service. Mick Emerson served
in Egypt and Palestine and Frank
Emerson served in Trieste, Italy shortly after World War Two.
This
article is published with the kind permission of Ciaran Byrne. If
you have any information concerning Patrick Emerson, or would like
to commemorate one of your relatives on a page like this, please contact
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